Many years ago, there was a woman in a poor, small village who had to go and retrieve water for her household from a distant well. The woman would take two large pots, each hanging off the end of a pole, which she would carry across the back of her shoulders. She would fill the pots with water and then bring them back to her home.
One pot was perfect, and always brought back a full pot of water. That pot was quite proud of itself, so strong and proud, and performing exactly as designed. But the other had a crack in it, and would lose half of its water by the time the woman arrived home each day. This made the pot with the crack in it sad, as it realized it wasn’t able to do all for which it was designed.
One day, after the woman had been going back and forth for a very long time, always arriving home with a full pot of water on one side, and only half a pot on the other, the pot with the crack spoke to the woman.
“I’m sorry that because of this crack, I’m not able to perform for you as well as I should. I’m ashamed and sad because of this imperfection, that limits what I’m able to do for you.”
The woman smiled softly. “Did you ever notice there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” she asked. “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you’ve been watering them. All these years I’ve been able to pick these beautiful flowers and bring them into our home to decorate the table each day. What you see as your weakness is the very reason we enjoy such beauty in our home.”
In 2 Cor. 4:7, we read, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
How about you? Ever feel bad because of a crack here or a flaw there that you feel limits all you wish you could do? Maybe the Lord has His purpose for these cracks, flaws, and other challenges we find in our lives.
The Apostle Paul had a flaw—a “thorn in the flesh” he called it. When tempted to look upon our own cracks and flaws, let us take comfort in the same words the Lord spoke to the apostle, as recorded in 2 Cor 12:9-10, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.”